By FRANCIS ANYENDA
A local television station recently carried a story of a Form Three girl, who was discontinued from school because her urine and stool cannot be controlled due to a condition referred to as Spina bifida.
The argument of the school administration was that because of her inability to control the stool and urine, the girl smells and this makes the classroom smell too. Spina bifida is characterised by incomplete development of the brain, spinal cord, and/or meninges (the protective covering around the brain and spinal cord).
Complications as a result of spina bifida range from minor physical problems with little functional impairment to severe physical and mental disabilities. Spina bifida’s impact is determined by the size and location of the malformation, whether it covered, and which spinal nerves are involved. All nerves located below the malformation are affected to some degree.
The higher the malformation occurs on the back, the greater the amount of nerve damage and loss of muscle function and sensation. That explains the reason why Virginia cannot control her urine and stool.
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The expulsion case brings to the fore increased cases of discrimination and exclusion of persons with disabilities in the country despite many legislative and legal frameworks existing that protect the rights of persons with disabilities.
Everywhere they live, people with disabilities are statistically more likely to be unemployed, illiterate, to have less formal education and less access to support networks. They are further isolated by discrimination, ignorance and prejudices.
In recent times, there have been increased cases of persons with disabilities being discriminated against in all several spheres of life – in employment, education, social gatherings, at family level. Addressing the great moral challenge that is poverty and disability means focusing on removing the structural and attitudinal barriers that exclude people with disabilities in all sectors of life.
Disability is a rights issue and not a matter of discretion! This is clearly laid down in the UN Convention on Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and its Optional Protocol was adopted on December 13, 2006 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.
The purpose of the Convention is to promote, protect and ensure full and equal enjoyment of all human rights and fundamental freedoms by all persons with disabilities. Both the Convention and its Protocol came into force on May 3, 2008.
The Convention establishes disability not only as a social welfare matter but as human rights issue and matter of law. Kenya ratified the convention in 2008.
Kenya also enacted the Persons with Disability Act in 2003 which among other things protects and promotes the rights of Persons with disabilities in Kenya.
The rights recognised by the Convention and the Act cover almost all aspects of life from justice to transport, through employment to information technology and social health policy.
Article 54 of the Constitution of Kenya recognises and specifically details rights of persons with disabilities.
Further, the Constitution in Article 43 recognises economic and social rights of every person including the right to; Highest attainable standard of health; Housing; Sanitation; Freedom from hunger; Clean and safe water; Social security; Education; Emergency treatment; Appropriate social security
There is therefore need to ensure that all necessary measures are taken by each one of us to ensure benefits and opportunities for persons with disabilities as embedded in the Constitution and other legislative frameworks are utilised for persons with disabilities to realise their full potential.
Mr Anyenda is Senior PR Officer at the National Council for Persons with Disabilities
